The New World Translation

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a modern-language translation of the Bible published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, Inc. and the International Bible Students Association of Brooklyn, New York (corporations in use by the religious organization commonly known as Jehovah’s Witnesses). It was not the first, nor the last translation to be published by them, but it was their very first original translation of the original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic texts.

History

In October 1946 the president of the Watch Tower Society, Nathan H. Knorr, proposed a fresh translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. Work got under way on December 2, 1947 when the New World Bible Translation Committee was formed. On September 3, 1949, Knorr convened a joint meeting of the board of directors of both the Watch Tower Society's New York and Pennsylvania corporations to announce that the work on a modern-language English translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures was completed and had been turned over to the Society for printing. It was assigned to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania for publication, with the request that the names of the translators not be published. Their stated intent was, “to honor Jehovah God, the Divine Author of his inspired Word.” This fact is very frequently cited by critics of the translation in order to suggest that its scholarship is of inferior quality, as the identities of the translators and hence their credentials could never be conclusively verified. However, Raymond Franz, a former member of the Society’s Governing Body and nephew of Fred Franz, identified the members of the translation committee as being his uncle, Fred Franz, Nathan Knorr, Albert Schroeder and George Gangas. [see Franz, Raymond. (2004) Crisis of Conscience (4th ed.), pg. 56. Atlanta: Commentary Press ISBN 0-914675-23-0.]

The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures (New Testament) was released at a convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Yankee Stadium, New York, on August 2, 1950, to 82,075 present, fresh from the presses in Brooklyn, New York. The translation of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) originally appeared in five volumes in 1953, 1955, 1957, 1958, and 1960, a single edition being produced in 1963.

The translation does not contain any of the Apocryphal books, as the translators believe that any claim for canonicity on the part of these writings is without any solid foundation.

Since the original New World Translation was published in 1950, it has undergone minor revisions on a number of occasions, most recently in 1984. It is a goal to make the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures accessible to as many people as possible. To that end, the English translation has served as a basis for translations of the NWT into several other languages and editions, including a pocket-sized edition, a standard edition with cross-references, a reference edition with footnotes, a four-volume large-print edition for the visually impaired. It is also available in Grade Two English Braille, audiocassettes, and CDs (in MP3 format).

Further reading

• Franz, Raymond. (2004) Crisis of Conscience (4th ed.), pg. 56. Atlanta: Commentary Press ISBN 0-914675-23-0.

This article is licensed under the Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “New World Translation.”